European Shares Slip On China Demand Concerns

European stocks fell on Monday, as concerns about China’s property market returned to the fore and a survey showed German business sentiment slightly worsened in September.

The Ifo institute said its business climate index stood at 85.7 versus a score of 85.2 forecast by analysts.

The pan European STOXX 600 dropped 0.7 percent to 449.92 after declining 0.3 percent on Friday.

The German DAX gave up 0.9 percent, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 was down 0.6 percent.

The euro edged lower against the dollar after European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau said that interest rates should remain at these levels for a sufficiently long period of time.

ECB President Christine Lagarde is scheduled to testify before the European Commission’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs later in the day, with investors looking for more clues to indicate that the eurozone’s central bank is done hiking.

Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore fell 2-3 percent on concerns about financial problems in China’s property sector after Evergrande’s debt restructuring hit a roadblock.

China Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted property developer, said it was unable to issue new debt due to an ongoing investigation into its main domestic subsidiary, Hengda Real Estate Group Co.

China-exposed luxury stocks such as Hermes International, Kering and LVMH dropped 2-3 percent in Paris.

Gambling firm Entain plunged 9.4 percent in London after it warned on its online net gaming revenues for the third quarter and the full year.

CRH rallied 3 percent after the building materials giant announced the repurchase of 17.7 million ordinary shares.

Insurer Aviva fell about 1 percent after it agreed to acquire AIG’s U.K. protection business.

Novartis AG was marginally higher. The Swiss pharmaceutical firm said that its radioligand therapy, Lutathera, had met its primary endpoint in a phase 3 trial.

Swedish property group SBB soared 30 percent after it agreed to cede control in a portfolio of school buildings to Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.

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